No flies on him!!

 Welcome to Summer in Australia. A land of floods (currently), famine and FLIES!!!

Today's blog pays homage to a Rookwood inhabitant whose company distributed a powder that helped Aussies cope with those pesky blighters.

SAMUEL TAYLOR

Samuel was born in April 1813 on the Bethnal Green Road, London, the eldest son of Samuel and Sarah Black (nee Green) and the first of five children.

Samuel went into business with his father and his half-brother William Black in their brush manufacturing warehouse at 50 and 51 Church Street London. (William was the eldest son of Sarah and George Black her first husband who died in 1807.  She married Samuel Taylor (senior) in 1810 who took on her three young children). Brush manufacturing was an important industry at time and increasingly so into the Victorian age. Brushes were used in brooms, the laundry, by chimney sweeps and mundanely to clean the front step as an example. The business, however, was dissolved in 1839. 

Samuel (Junior) married Harriet Draughty in January 1835. Soon after the business was dissolved in London, he, Harriet and their two daughters, Fanny and Harriet, sailed for a new life in Australia arriving on 26th January 1840 on board the "Wilmot". Unfortunately, Harriet died in May 1841. 

He married Mary Kelly in September of that year, and they went on to have ten more children. 

Samuel Taylor - Ancestry.com in public domain

Samuel started a brush manufacturing business, an enterprise he had good knowledge of and sold doormats, basketry as well as repairing knife machines. He had a shopfront in Bridge Street with a warehouse in Queens Place (now Dalley Street) near Circular Quay. 

Samuel Taylor business card - Ancestry.com in public domain 

Meanwhile, a German immigrant, Johann Hagemann, found the number of insects in Australia more than annoying and set out to find a way of dealing with them whilst being able to continue working outdoors. He used crushed chrysanthemum flowers to produce a pyrethrum extract and created an insecticidal powder. He began marketing the powder under the name, Mortein, which was believed to be devised by Hagemann and his French born wife, using a combination of the French word "mort" (dead) and the German "ein" (one). Dead one!

Hagemann appointed the Samuel Taylor company as wholesale distributor. After Samuel Taylor passed away, the company lost its rudder and went under. In 1909 F.S Steer and Thomas Jackson acquired it, reviving the business, eventually setting up as a proprietary company under the established and recognisable name, Samuel Taylor Pty, Ltd, in 1937. 

The Mortein powder was originally sprinkled about as needed and in the 1920's, a squeeze puffer was developed. Hagemann introduced a liquid version in 1928, combining this with kerosene and had a flit gun designed which allowed the insecticide to be sprayed into the air or onto the pests themselves. 

Mortein flit gun from 1950's - WA Museum 

By 1953, when Samuel Taylor Pty Ltd pioneered the aerosol pressure pack in Australia, Mortein was a household name. When television arrived in 1956, a long "informercial" by Mortein was one of the first ads shown. In 1957 the first commercial featuring "Louie the Fly" was created and has remained Mortein's most memorial character in selling the product to Australians. He has been revived many times over the years in updated but always entertaining advertisements of the product. He was "retired" after a backlash over the closure of a local plant that made the product in 2012.

Early image of Louie the Fly from late 1950's - National Film & Sound Archive

The Samuel Taylor company was bought by the British company, Reckitt & Colman in 1969. The company's new owners realised that they had bought into a widely recognised Australian brand and created new products to help all Australians cope with those pesky blighters!

The namesake of the company so closely associated with Mortein, Samuel Taylor, is buried with his wife Mary in the old Methodist area of Rookwood Cemetery very close to St Michael the Archangel Chapel. Harriet, his first wife, is buried in the plot behind Samuel. 

Samuel and Mary Taylor's headstone - find a grave 

Harriet Taylor's headstone - find a grave. 

As I was formulating this blog today, that earwig meme "Louie the Fly I'm Louie the Fly, bad and mean and mighty unclean" kept repeating in my head - constantly! I remember my dad loved the ads!!

I personally think that a humble brush manufacturer who will be forever linked to an iconic Australian brand is pretty impressive.

I cannot find what became of Johann Hagemann and if anyone should have any information, I would greatly appreciate it.

I have reference ancestry.com; Wikipedia, Trove newspapers and Mortein's history page on Google.

Any comments about this blog can be added below or at the group Facebook page under 

rookwood cemetery discoveries

or send me a personal email at 

lorainepunch@gmail. com

Well, that's a wrap for 2023 and what a year it has been! I've brought you the stories of the infamous, heroic, good and bad mothers, terrible disasters and more.

You can always read or re-read these by checking the archive which is listed under the name of the month. 

I have a number of follow-ups and big stories lined up for 2024! Can't wait to get them published and "out there" for you to read over a cuppa!

I will touch base with a few small things I have found about the people I have blogged about this year, and I will send a list of books that feature some Rookwood inhabitants that you may wish to get your hands on.

Finally in this world of increasing disasters and indignation I wish you time out to appreciate the things you might usually take for granted, give thanks you are still above ground and indulge in anything that keeps you happy!

See you soon!